This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of the “De Facto Segregation Study Committee” for the Berkeley Unified School District (November 1963). This past week, I acquired a copy of the report from the Bancroft Library.

Today, I scanned the entire report—and am working on paying for someone to transcribe the entire document so that it can be made more easily-accessible by the public.

My grandfather, John Hadsell, (UC Berkeley, 1943) then-campus minister at UC Berkeley, was the chairman of the committee—the report is sometimes called the “Hadsell Report.”

The unanimous vote, in December 1962, to begin the project from Berkeley School Board minutes is here (PDF).

Grandpa, now 91, still lives in Oakland.

“Public education must offer each child the opportunity to proceed as far along the educational path as he is able and willing to go. The cost of maintaining this opportunity is largely borne by the public through tax-supported schools, colleges and universities. Education of youth is the soundest of all investments, because in a democracy all adults are expected to participate in the great decisions that determine its destiny. To the extent to which a large segment of society is denied full participation because of educational neglect and other reasons, the whole society is harmed.”